Aim: To Perform an adequate DJ set mixing tracks together of a certain genre. To please the audience.

objectives: Using music technology equipment I must successfully beat match each song to one another to create the affect of seamless mixing. Choosing the right type of music after the other is an important task in achieving the latter whilst pleasing the audience.

I was offered a set by Sean Catchpol (Vermin), a renowned UK Dubstep DJ. The night was held at, The Strand, Bude, United Kingdom on July 16th 2010. I was exited when I was given this opportunity because gig’s like these are what I aspire to do on a full time basis. I was offered £60 plus travel fees. The gig being so far away also works to my advantage because I need experience within travelling, as successful DJ’s usually travel across the UK and sometimes abroad when in demand.
I was chosen to DJ for 3 hours because of my production skills. My compositions are in demand by the Dubstep scene. It is vital that I get sets because of being in demand not just from networking. Composing music that will be in demand will push my DJ’ing career forward.
The above screenshot shows how the event was advertized. It shows the dates and destination along with the DJ’s taking place within the description. My DJ name is DJ Gnome so they included this alias within the description. At first I wondered why there was not much promotion of the night. If I was hosting, I would of printed flyers etc but on arrival I realized they did not need to promote the night professionally because so many people in Cornwall favor Dubstep but have nowhere to go to listen to the music. So, when these nights are on the customers flock to the venue.
The night was a success, and I even recorded my set for future reference. It is important I recognize any faults and learn during the experience. I am proud of how well I did and how many people were entertained and chose to dance when I was playing.

Key experience gained

• The importance of good monitoring of the music to enable me to mix music accurately.
• How to read the audience and play music to suit there needs.
• How to plan travel and get to the venue’s on time
• The importance of bringing back up music apart from the music you have chose to play in order to give the audience what they want.
• How to use industry standard mixing hardware (Pioneer CDJ’s).
• Learned how volume is affected by the noise of the crowd and the venue playing at.
• How to co-operate with other DJ’s when changing sets.

Conclusion

This experience was a key moment within my progression. This gig has landed me my first resident spot as they have asked for me to come back every month. This will promote me to the other DJs and hopefully build up my contacts which in turn could lead to more frequent gigs. Out of all the diverse work I have experienced nothing has compared to this opportunity. I finally have my feet on the first step of my dream career.

Hours worked: 3 Hours

Stewarding for jeremy's Symposium Project

Aim: To aid in the movement of equipment, safety of the performance space and organisation of the audience.

Objectives: Overlook the performance to insure everything goes according to plan. We need to monitor the doorways and floors for object obstruction and understand what to do in case of a fire or other hazard, e.g. disabled people last out within a fire evacuation as they could cause obstruction. We also need to monitor the audience and help with any problems they may encounter. Recording the performance was also one of our objectives.

The 1st year of my course has come to an end. All the hard working has payed off with good results. I have managed to organize myself and keep a working routine. Now there is time for rest and summer fun but I don't want to have too much fun and slip out of my working pace. Jeremy (Lecturer) has helped me and other students stay on track by asking if we were interested in some work experience for his Symposium project.

Jeremy needed a few students to Steward for his project held at the Dartington College of Arts on the 21st of July 2010. The speakers attending were diverse and had a variety of skills and knowledge to share with the audience. The symposium started at 10am and ended at 4am. Jeremy asked for the stewards to be at the working space for 8am to help set up the technical equipment and to be trained within the health and safety involved within the job role of stewarding.

The training was very useful as we could apply what we had learnt to other jobs in the future. We learnt what was in order if there was a fire. Evacuating people from the building, The difference between fire extinguishers and what to do in case of an accident. We also were trained to spot obstructions and how to deal with problems that could potentially make a fire evacuation harder or unsafe to deal with. These skills will always come in handy within any type of performance.

The image above shows roughly what we our jobs involved within the workplace and the names of the different speakers we got to meet. The microphone roving was quite interesting as some people were shy to speak on the microphone within the audience. The moving of the equipment before the speeches was very basic. I enjoyed the role of doorman, greeting the guests and speakers. Each guest had to sign in using a simple form at the entrance to the building. The best part of the experience for me was using the camera to film. Jeremy specifically asked that we paused the camera after each speech to limit the need for editing. Using the camera was interesting because i learnt how panning the camera helped keep view of the speakers whilst they were walking around the stage.

Overall i enjoyed the whole experience. I gained some valuable skills within stewarding and also got to learn about different projects going on within Devon. There was lots of information on a variety of different subjects ranging from Arts to the awareness of disabilities such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism etc. I would like to find some more work within stewarding as it could potentially be a career to look into within the future.

Hours worked: 8 hours

Just thought I would post an example of my artwork. This could be used to send Ministry of Sound or Streetwise along other designs more related to there company's. This will show my diversity and creative skill.

Today I contacted a company called streetwise which own community center type buildings which they use to attract kids and teenagers of the streets. They have game consoles, pool, parties and food. They allow kids to come in and out when they please apart from fridays as on fridays they throw a little party.

I contacted them by phone asking if it was possible to contribute to the company for free. I mentioned that the work would be used as part of my WBL. They said it could be possible to set something up in the near future but not at the moment as they would have nothing for me to do.

I mentioned all my skills and asked weather they could be of use to the company. They said it may be possible for me to DJ for the party but not anytime soon as they already have a contract with a DJ. They also said it may be possible to design promotion material for the company but must be discussed with the superiors of the company.

My next plan of action is to get the contact details of the company owner. I will mention the above discussion i had and i will send him/her previous designs i have done. I will also try to impress the company owner by creating a logo and font better than the one they have.

My first taste at WBL

Aim: To take part in the recording of a professional sexual Health video taking on various roles needed.
Objective: To read the scripts into the camera taking into consideration our role allocated. Roles include the peer and the learner/student.

'Just a note to say thank you very much for all your hard work and input today. Filming is hot, often tedious and doesn't always make sense. You all worked with integrity and I very much appreciated it. I look forward to having the edited product to give to you. I will also get certificates together for you.' - Sandy Akerman 16/02/2010 via email.

On 16/02/2010 I attended a one day filming job for Apause. Apause are a company devoted to improving young peoples lives through relationship education. They train 6 form/A Level students and higher levels, to teach the younger students about sexsual health and relations.
My job was to help create the training programme video. We all had a script and we all took part in the actual recording of the video. In some shots we were acting as the peers and some, the learners. I will update the blog when I have some video clips of the group. The group Started at 10am after some breakfast and we finished by 4pm. We were payed travel fees and £20.

Hours worked: 5

Another idea

I found a fellow students work based learning blog that inspired me to think about working at the Music Mill in Newton Abbot.



Here is a copy of John briddick's post about his first day working at the music mill:

"Today was my first day of Work Based Learning at The Mill Recording Studios. I must admit I was a little nervous going into today's session because I have had very little experience of working on the production side of things in a professional studio. Up until now I have had plenty of time recording in the studio as part of my college course, however being on the sound desk side of things and working with a private client was something very knew to me." Available at: http://johnbriddick.blogspot.com/ (Accessed on 07 January 2010)

I seem to have the opposite skills to John. I have lots of experiance producing behind a desk. I also have a lot of experiance in recording. The Music Mill would be a great placement as it is not that far to travel and the staff know me there.

I started to research into what major companies sell and promote computer music on a commercial bases. Whilst browsing in HMV (music store) I found that Ministry of sound occupied most of the compilations for sale of computer composed music.



I decided to visit Ministry of sound's web page and found this:

"Work Placement opportunities available at Ministry of Sound
We are always willing to give people the opportunity of training here at Ministry of Sound and an introduction to the music and media industries.
These placements will be unpaid but we will cover the cost of travel and lunch per day.

There are opportunities in the following departments:

A&R/Recordings
Graphic (Print) Design
Internet and New Media Design
Marketing
Legal (Must be studying law or a related course)

For all departments you must have strong computer skills (Mac skills for Graphic design) and have an interest in the music industry.
If applying for Design please include a sample of your work with your application.

To apply:

Applicants must be able to commit to 3 month work placement programme.

All applications must be sent by e-mail with a CV and cover letter.
Please clearly state which department it is you are applying for.

Work Placements:
Only apply if you are a full time student who requires a work placement as part of your course.
Workplacements@Ministryofsound.com

Only successful applicants will be contacted." Available at:http://www.ministryofsound.com/About/About.aspx?id=7 (Accessed on 06 January 2010)

This seems like the perfect chance for me to experience a company at work with computer based music. It's also got me thinking about promotion design work etc as i have relative experience using industry standard design software. The only problem is the work would be based in London. which means i would have to stay in London.

First thoughts

I have been thinking about different opportunities in the music industry that would cater for my passion of computer music. I first had a look at different festivals web pages to find out more about them.



Looking at Glastonbury's website gave me a rough understanding on what goes on there. The music is not exactly all my taste but that is not important. Glastonbury would be a great opportunity. By accessing the website I managed to get hold of the contact details needed to as such questions about work experience.

FDA Music Performance & Events Managment

As part of my course, I have been asked to document my planning and experience of work based learning during the two years of study. This enables me to apply academic study to workplace enviroments.

First I will be planning my approach to work based learning and employment with an open mind as I am not sure what part of the creative industries I would like to experiance. I then will update the blog with work placements I receive.